Howling Bells, Night & Day. 21st January 2022

I often think being in a band must be frustratingly difficult. Why do some make it big and others not so much. Audiences are fickle I guess. Howling Bells released the self titled debut that they’re playing in full tonight in 2006. It got a lot of praise. Quite rightly, it’s brilliant and I for one fell in love with it. I’ve no excuse, but I can’t explain why after being so taken with the first album, the following three didn’t register at all. Listening to them now, there’s some great music that up until recently had completely passed me by. I feel a bit guilty, so I’m determined to show my support as much as possible tonight. That’s really not that hard to be fair, I’m pre-programmed to swoon to this stuff as gothy blues riffs swell and singer Juanita let’s those vocals soar. Velvet Girl is sublime. Low Happening is powerful. Broken Bones blends the two together. It’s brilliant to witness. Even if the band are minimal on interaction to start. It’s a big sound, solid rhythm, guitars set to raise the dead and those stunning vocals. Plus the fact they wrap it all around beautifully melodic songs, really raises the pulse. It’s not just the heavy hitters in the set though, the slower wistful songs pack just as much punch. It’s timeless. Some people are sniffy about the album in full gig format, but when it’s a record you love there’s nothing better. There are people in Night & Day tonight who don’t miss a beat, sing every single word. It’s a celebration, a group of people who’ve connected with a record, here to show what it means to its creators. It is a bit more sedate toward the back where I adjourn to after grabbing a beer and deciding not to try fight my way back to the front. But it’s nice in here tonight wherever your stood. Juanita seems to feel this, warming and opening up. Debating whether to drink water or tequila and telling us how nice it is to be back after 7 years… oh and apparently the guitar tech has chicken pox. Get well soon. It’s all about the songs though. Setting Sun sounds huge. The way the chorus builds is majestic and the dust bowl apocalyptic country guitars of Blessed Night send me over the edge. I’ve tickets for quite a lot of older bands (some really old) that will revisit their albums of the past this year. Howling Bells tonight though have set the bar very high.